Is "POS" a common word in every day conversation when you're shopping?

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Is "POS" a common word in every day conversation when you're shopping?

Hi
In my country we call this POS (although we have coined an equivalent for that). Do you call it POS as well? Are there any other equivalents for that? When we want to pay we just simply say: "Excuse me, do you have a POS?" and then if the answer is yes, we pay by card. Do you also use it in this way? If yes do you pronounce it as /poz/?
Thanks a lot.Attachment 1311

Re: Is "POS" a common word in every day conversation when you're shopping?

Originally Posted by moonlike

Hi
In my country we call this POS (although we have coined an equivalent for that). Do you call it POS as well? Are there any other equivalents for that? When we want to pay we just simply say: "Excuse me, do you have a POS?" and then if the answer is yes, we pay by card. Do you also use it in this way? If yes do you pronounce it as /poz/?
Thanks a lot.Attachment 1311

Re: Is "POS" a common word in every day conversation when you're shopping?

Originally Posted by bhaisahab

I've never heard of "POS".

Really! I found that it stands for "Point Of Sale". It seems that it's not an English word by itself. I thought it's an international abbreviation. So could you kindly tell me what you call it? Imagine when you go shopping and you want to make sure the shopkeeper has this gadget or not, instead of just saying "can I pay by card?" what other things do you typically say? I mean if you want to say if the shopkeeper has one of these things?
Thanks a lot.

Re: Is "POS" a common word in every day conversation when you're shopping?

Originally Posted by moonlike

Really! I found that it stands for "Point Of Sale". It seems that it's not an English word by itself. I thought it's an international abbreviation. So could you kindly tell me what you call it? Imagine when you go shopping and you want to make sure the shopkeeper has this gadget or not, instead of just saying "can I pay by card?" what other things do you typically say? I mean if you want to say if the shopkeeper has one of these things?
Thanks a lot.

I would say "Can I pay by card?". The machine in the picture is called a "chip and pin reader."

Re: Is "POS" a common word in every day conversation when you're shopping?

It's so common to use your debit (or credit card) to pay for things here that you rarely need to even ask. Even fast food restaurants have that capability. We would call that a credit card scanner or a debit card reader. Aside from the drive through window, I use my debit card almost exclusively. Cash? What's that?

I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.

Re: Is "POS" a common word in every day conversation when you're shopping?

I wouldn't ask if they have the relevant machine. I would just ask "Do you take cards?" or "Can I pay by card?" Some places can still accept payment using a debit/credit card even if they don't have a POS machine. I knew what POS meant but only because I have worked in shops. Even so, when we talk about one in the shop, we just call it a "card machine".

Re: Is "POS" a common word in every day conversation when you're shopping?

Here in Canada the term is also frequent, but is pronounced with all letters named.

Originally Posted by moonlike

Hi
In my country we call this POS (although we have coined an equivalent for that). Do you call it POS as well? Are there any other equivalents for that? When we want to pay we just simply say: "Excuse me, do you have a POS?" and then if the answer is yes, we pay by card. Do you also use it in this way? If yes do you pronounce it as /poz/?
Thanks a lot.Attachment 1311